ScienceDailyThe U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against screening for ovarian cancer in women without symptoms and who are not known to be at high risk (such as those who have certain hereditary cancer syndromes that increase the risk for ovarian cancer). The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services. This latest recommendation statement on screening for ovarian cancer is an update from 2012.READ MORE

BBC NewsU.S. scientists believe they have identified a new gene mutation that can raise the risk of ovarian cancer, and is passed from father to daughter. According to the study published in PLOS Genetics, It is inherited through the X-chromosome and is independent of other known susceptibility genes that women can already be tested for. Experts say more studies are needed to confirm the identity and function of the gene.READ MORE

ScienceDailyResearch has identified gene variants that play a significant role in how women with ovarian cancer process chemotherapy. The research, published in Scientific Reports, showed that the genes we inherit can have a significant impact on how the body processes chemotherapy drugs, which may lead to different clinical outcomes for ovarian cancer patients.READ MORE

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology NewsResearchers have understood for decades the importance that DNA repair mechanisms play in maintaining genomic integrity and keeping carcinogenesis in check. For instance, the BRACA1/2 genes and protein products have been found to play a critical role in the development and outcome of breast and ovarian cancers. So important are these two genes that they become an integral part of breast and ovarian cancer diagnostics.READ MORE

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Medscape Commentary (free login required)Cancer treatment has changed significantly over the past decades. Surgery became less definitive, and new chemotherapeutic regimens and radiation therapy became more focused and less damaging for noninvolved organs. These changes have been paralleled with improved survival.READ MORE

Cancer NetworkAs is well known, ovarian cancer tends to spread inside the peritoneal cavity in the early phase of disease development. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy is a reasonable treatment approach for ovarian cancer because it can directly expose the surface tissues to which the cancer has disseminated to an extremely high concentration of the chemotherapy drug.READ MORE

News-MedicalUsing self-sampling followed by HPV testing, more than twice as many women at risk of developing cervical cancer could be identified and offered preventive treatment. This is shown by researchers at Uppsala University in the first randomized study in the world comparing two ways of identifying cervical cancer, published in the British Journal of Cancer.READ MORE

Reuters via Journal of Clinical PathwaysSurvival is significantly greater with cisplatin and optimal radiation compared to radiation treatment alone for women with FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stage IIIB squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, researchers in India say.
“Cervical cancer is one of the common cancers in women in the developing world, Dr. Umesh Mahantshetty of Homi Bhabha National Institute in Mumbai told Reuters Health by email. “In addition, the majority of the cancers are diagnosed in advanced stages.”READ MORE

ScienceDailyCancer therapies have improved — in some cases dramatically — over the past two decades, but treatment for cervical cancer has remained largely unchanged according to a study published in Cancer Research. All patients receive radiation and chemotherapy, yet despite the aggressive approach, the regimen fails in about one-third of patients with cervical cancer that has spread beyond the cervix but not outside the pelvis.READ MORE

Medscape Commentary (free login required)In the United States and many other countries, the prevalence of obesity continues to increase. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente of Northern California conducted a study to assess how body mass index (BMI) impacts the outcomes of cervical cancer screening. In 2003, Kaiser initiated cytology and HPV co-testing every 3 years for women aged 30 and older. Among women screened over a 12-year period, the likelihood of being diagnosed with cervical cancer or precancer was assessed.READ MORE

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Board Certified OBGYN Clinician-InvestigatorThe Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mayo Clinic invites applications for a board certified OBGYN Clinician-Investigator in Rochester, MN. We are seeking an accomplished clinician engaged in research who will expand our discovery and translational research enterprise and help grow the practice.
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Contemporary OBGYNHigher levels of distress were linked to increased vaginal sexual symptoms, worry about dyspareunia, dissatisfaction with a relationship, and concerns about body image in a study looking at sexual well-being among cervical cancer survivors published in Psycho-Oncology, Prior to this publication, biopsychosocial aspects of sexual distress among cancer survivors had rarely been studied, although it is well known that psychological factors may impact sexual function as significantly as physical factors.READ MORE